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Hot Damn I'm Moving to Oahu
Quid
Definitely not a bananaRegistered User regular
Definitely not a bananaRegistered User regular
I'm in the navy and as of today I have roughly months till graduating from my school and moving to Hawaii soon after to protect your asses while in the Hellish confines of paradise. Which brings up several concerns:
1. What's the chance of getting an honest to goodness house? With all the appropriate hookups and whatnot. The biggest concern for my wife and I is that we don't want to live in an apartment. Base housing will get us a house, but it'd also be a nice option if we could find somewhere off base as well.
2. Is the public transit any good? We're planning on shipping both vehicles but it's something of a dream of mine to get rid of at least one.
3. Speaking of which, the government only covers shipping one. Does anyone have any experience shipping a vehicle? The wife found a place that we could send one out from SF, but I'd like to know what to expect. If it's important, we'll likely ship her Suzuki Forenza privately on the assumption that my larger Ranger would probably cost more.
4. How plentiful are the nice public beaches? The one thing my wife and I miss about her hometown Pensacola are the beautiful beaches they have there and it's one of the things we're most looking forward to.
5. What else should I consider when moving there? And for anyone that may have possibly dealt with military housing in HI is there anything I should expect?
Oh, and don't bug me about island fever. I spent the last four years in Gulfport, MS. Being able to take a road trip to the rest of the Southeast over the weekend isn't going to be missed.
1. What's the chance of getting an honest to goodness house? With all the appropriate hookups and whatnot. The biggest concern for my wife and I is that we don't want to live in an apartment. Base housing will get us a house, but it'd also be a nice option if we could find somewhere off base as well.
2. Is the public transit any good? We're planning on shipping both vehicles but it's something of a dream of mine to get rid of at least one.
3. Speaking of which, the government only covers shipping one. Does anyone have any experience shipping a vehicle? The wife found a place that we could send one out from SF, but I'd like to know what to expect. If it's important, we'll likely ship her Suzuki Forenza privately on the assumption that my larger Ranger would probably cost more.
4. How plentiful are the nice public beaches? The one thing my wife and I miss about her hometown Pensacola are the beautiful beaches they have there and it's one of the things we're most looking forward to.
5. What else should I consider when moving there? And for anyone that may have possibly dealt with military housing in HI is there anything I should expect?
Oh, and don't bug me about island fever. I spent the last four years in Gulfport, MS. Being able to take a road trip to the rest of the Southeast over the weekend isn't going to be missed.
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2) O'ahu's transit system has won several awards. That said, where you're located has an impact. Some buses, on the farthest range, only run every 30 minutes. Most run every 15. Exceptions include express routes to and from places like Kapolei and Makakilo to Honolulu. These cater to business people who work in Honolulu, 'in town', and so they have, usually, three runs in the morning and three in the afternoon.
3) When my Tutu (grandmother) moved to Kaua'i she shipped her car. She didn't seem to have any trouble with it, perse, but it did take about 6 weeks, if I remember correctly. I don't know how much it cost.
4) All beaches, by law, are public property in Hawaii. As a result, there are a plethora of nice public beaches. Which base will you be living at/assigned to and what kind of beach do you prefer?
5) Don't be surprised if some people react badly to you because you're white 'haole'. This isn't common on or around military bases, but it does happen. Depending on where you visit, though, you may never encounter it.
I'll send you my parents email addresses so you can ask them more detailed questions since it's been about 2 years since I've been home. And once I know what kind of beaches you guys like I'll let you know where you can find some of the better ones.
Also, I am SO JEALOUS. I wish I could go home. You'll have to send me photos and Haupia mix.
Face Twit Rav Gram
I'm afraid I don't know where exactly my housing will be as the best I got was "About a half hour away from Kunia."
Edit: Also thanks a lot for the PM I'll be sure to ask them.
You don't need mix, my husband is from Maui and he loooooves my Haupia. I don't use the vanilla and it's best to make sure the cornstarch is blended into the coconut milk BEFORE you heat it.
Ingredients:
* 2 cups coconut milk
* 1 cup whole milk
* 6 tablespoons sugar
* 5 tablespoons cornstarch
* 1/4 tsp vanilla (if desired)
Preparation:
Pour one cup of coconut milk into a saucepan. Combine sugar and cornstarch stirring into coconut milk. (Add vanilla is desired) Heat over low stirring consistently until thickened.
Add remainder of coconut milk and whole milk and continue to heat until thickened. Pour into 8 inch square pan and chill until firm.
And OP: My husband just says that Hawaii is expensive, he's from a different island though.
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And just a word of advice from a former Navy wife, base housing may be a pain in the ass sometimes but if you're going to be gone for long periods of time it will definitely make your wife feel like more a part of the community. If something were to happen she would be surrounded with lots of understanding and very helpful people in similar situations, and living far away from family and friends can get very lonely. Also, friends who have been stationed in Oahu and Pearl both commented on the outrageous housing prices.
Also it's shore duty so while I do appreciate the community that come along with base housing, I'll be working with people nearby on a regular basis.
Anyway. I lived in old base housing, and so did a lot of my friends. A lot of the housing is older, but it's not particularly bad or anything. I would recommend living in military housing when you move over there, for the first year or so. Take that time to get to know the island and explore places you might want to live. Military housing isn't a big commitment or anything, and it'll be there waiting for you when you move over. Take your time instead of stressing out over buying a house that isn't what you really want.
Let me clarify. These houses are, on average, about the same size as a large-ish studio apartment.
For a bigger house with private land (living in a townhouse with communal land can be a little cheaper, but not much) you can easily pay from $600k to $2 mil. And that's not even for 'super fancy mansions', that's just a regular 3 bedroom house on a 1/4 acre or less of land. It's an island, land is at a premium.
Face Twit Rav Gram
Oh, you're probably going to Schofield then. Which is pretty much the middle-ish of the island. You'll have to drive to all the beaches, but it's good because most of them'll be within the same distance from you.
The closest white-sand dog-friendly would be Ko'olina, near Kapolei. I grew up going to this beach in particular. It caters more towards the tourists who're staying at the hotel, technically, but locals use it more than tourists so it's got a nice feel to it. They've got four white-sand lagoons (man made, but still nice), picnic tables, grassy areas for frisbee and what-not. I can't remember the exact address. If you drive to the Ko'olina Golf Course, just keep going on the main road (you'll know what I mean when you get there) and you'll reach the lagoons. There are also plenty of signs.
Blaisdell Park, near Pearl City, is another dog-friendly one. Not so much on the sandy beaches (in fact, it's right off Pearl Harbor, so you can't even swim there, the water is too polluted) but, because of it's size, you won't get any other patrons scolding you for bringing your dog.
Chinaman's Hat - This, along with Turtle Bay, will be the farthest from you. It's worth the drive though. White and yellow sand beaches, beautiful reefs perfect for snorkeling, not as popular with tourists so you won't be bothered too much, as well as beautiful views like this. It's also dog friendly.
Turtle Bay, located at North Shore (literally the northernmost point of the island), is, as far as I know, not dog friendly, but it has white sand and great reefs. Certain times of the year you can also see green sea turtles coming in to lay their eggs (thus the name of the beach). Bottlenose Dolphins also sometimes come by on their way around the island during migration.
Pipeline ("Banzai Pipeline") has nice beaches (not 100% pristine white sand, but still beautiful), is dog friendly, and has a good reef. Just don't go swimming in the winter time, the winter swell will literally kill you.
Three Tables is a somewhat famous spot for snorklers, so there may be a few tourists there. Most of them are pro's or hobbyists, though, so chances are they'll be less obnoxious than some other tourists (less likely to have screaming kids, for example). I don't know if they're dog friendly but they've got the white sand beaches and some prime, prime, prime reefs.
Ok, hope that helps. That's what I can think of off the top of my head.
Edit - Elin, thank you! I really appreciate it. I've been missing Haupia so much.
Also, yeah. Everything in Hawaii is expensive, but the outer islands (ie, not O'ahu) are even more expensive.
Face Twit Rav Gram